


Flash Fanfiction - Episode 1 - The Start of it All

by Mindmarvel



Series: Flash Fanfic Introducing Mind Marvel [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-26 19:39:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13864614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mindmarvel/pseuds/Mindmarvel
Summary: When a meteor strikes the earth is altered, killing some and leaving others with extra abilities. Barry Allen, Astrid Sutherland, Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon's lives change forever as they are left to pick up the pieces.





	1. Chapter 1

Astrid Sutherland entered CCPD's main foyer, where she worked as a criminal psychologist, as her phone went off in her pocket. Robert Sutherland of Sutherland Labs was calling. "Dad, wrong time to call, I just got to work." She told him without letting him speak first.

"I really can't stand you working there, I have an office right here, you know…" he told her. He was always trying to rope her into leaving her job and working with him.  
Technically Astrid's father made enough money for her to never dream of working a day in her life ever again, as he was one of Central City's richest entrepreneurs and a well-known head scientist.

"Dad, it isn't going to happen. Look I have to go, tell Cisco and Caitlin I say 'hi' and I will pop in after work. Ok? love you, dad." She hung up before he could answer her, and reached the elevator in time for one of her colleague's, Barry Allen, to press the call button.  
"Still trying to make you quit?" he asked her.

"He sure is!" she told him, "he gets so concerned that some criminal will get out of jail and seek revenge on me for helping you guys lock him away."  
The elevator doors opened and the two of them entered. "When you talk about him, he sounds like Joe. Just a father looking out for his kid." Barry told her.  
"It makes it hard to see him as one of Central City's most famous scientists, hey?"  
"Yeah, pretty much." Barry replied.

"Well that's how I see him. He is just my over paranoid father… especially since my mother died." Astrid told him.  
Barry looked at the ground. The two of them both had this in common. Both had lost their mothers, only while Astrid's mother had died of cancer, Barry's had been murdered. The courts believed that Barry's father had killed his mother, though Barry believed otherwise.

Astrid glanced at her phone again, "you're late again, Barry. Singh is going to tear you a new one." She giggled, "I don't envy you at all!"  
"It's ok, Joe messaged me before I got here, he is covering for me."

Joe, or detective West, was Barry's foster father. He was also the detective that covered the murder of Barry's mother.  
The elevator doors opened and they reached the floor. Barry raced off, giving a quick over the shoulder wave at Astrid before he disappeared in one of the offices with West and Singh.

Astrid walked through the room with multiple detectives and desks. It was a bustle for the Monday morning. She greeted a few colleagues and glanced up at the current news bulletin on the television hanging from the roof.

It made her heart sink. It was no wonder that Robert had tried calling her this morning. "…Sutherland Labs is under investigation for rumors of mistreatment and cruelty to animals in relation to animal testing. Dr Robert Sutherland had this to say as of this morning..." the news reporter's voice rang out, while showing an image of Sutherland Labs.  
The next scene had her father's face, he had clearly just gotten to work and had numerous cameras and microphones pointed in his face. "Dr Sutherland, are the rumors true? Has your laboratory been conducting cruel experiments on animals such as mice, cats, dogs and even gorillas?"

A few people in the office looked at Astrid waiting for her to comment. She bit her bottom lip and waited for her father to speak. "Under my watch we have never conducted any experimentation on any animal. My daughter would be the first to scold me on that one. But I assure you that I will get to the bottom of this."  
Robert turned and left, entering the building inside and the scene went to a news reporter.

A voice from beside her made her jump, "I think your father spoke very well," detective Joe West was standing beside her. "Do you think the rumors are true?" he asked her softly.  
"Just as my dad said, if they were true," she responded, "my father would be in big trouble with me. But if they are true, then that means someone has been working under my father in secret. I will personally get to the bottom of this."  
"Are you ready to work, Miss Sutherland? This is not a coffee lounge, there is one up the street if you want to chat." Captain Singh had entered their conversation, with Barry standing behind him.

"Yes, I am ready to work. I will head up to the interrogation room, send them in when you're ready," she replied obediently. She smiled politely and waved back at Barry and Joe, before taking her leave.

Later that day, Astrid stormed up to her father's office, bypassing her friends (and her father's colleagues), Francisco Ramon, or Cisco for short, and Dr Caitlin Snow, abruptly.  
"Hi to you too, Astrid, Jeez! Rude much!" Cisco called out after her. She ignored him and slammed her father's door opened. He had been sitting at his desk waiting for her.  
"Dad, what the HELL is going on? Animal testing? What have you gotten yourself into? That is illegal! You're risking all of Sutherland Labs! Hell! What about your investors? Think of Mr Queen! What if he was alive? He would be fuming right now! I have been dodging Ollie's calls all day until I could get to the bottom of this!" Astrid waited impatiently for her father to answer.

He took a breath and spoke softly to attempt to diffuse his daughter's anger, "I have never condoned any animal testing under Sutherland Labs, you know that. But there have been rumors of a top secret project that has been carried out without my knowledge. I promise you that I am getting to the bottom of it."  
"Without your consent… don't we have cameras for this sort of thing?" Astrid asked him. Suddenly they were interrupted by her father's assistant Mr Anderson, "sorry to intrude, the press are asking for a conference. They will need you to travel to…"

"Oh no! Dad! You're not leaving me with all of this! You will sort this animal testing business out immediately!"  
Robert Sutherland stood up from his desk and walked towards his daughter, "My men are on this, I assure you, that we will get to the bottom of this. This conference is about something else." Excitement was written all over his face at this point.  
"Dad, what is going on? What is this about?" she asked him, changing her tone.

"We may have discovered a cure for the disease that killed your mother. I will need you to take over things from this end." He told her softly.  
"Dad, she died from cancer what are you talking about?"

"No, it wasn't cancer. It was something else... but, please you need to deal with things from this end. My men are already onto finding out who has been conducting experiments on animals, you will just need to sit a few press conferences here for me and I will be back in a week."  
"Dad! No!" she tried to argue but he seemed too excited to change his mind. He kissed her on the cheek, "I love you dear, but this could be something big!"  
There was no use, he had won the argument and was leaving her with the mess. "Fine, I love you too dad!" she told him, he turned and left the office with his assistant, while she begrudgingly followed.

She slowly pulled her phone out of her pocket, as her father raced out of the room. She searched for Oliver Queen's number and prepared to call him. "What was that all about?" Dr Snow asked Astrid, referring to her father leaving in such a hurry.  
"He is on to some important breakthrough and is leaving me with the animal testing mess." Astrid told her, frustration in her tone. "I just wish I had one of those normal father-daughter relationships. Where I would be the one to mess up, and he could clean it up."

"Every family is dysfunctional, Astrid" Cisco told her, "you have witnessed mine. They shower love on Dante… and me? I get whatever is left over."  
Astrid stared at Cisco, he was right. It could be worse.  
She looked down at her phone and pressed 'call' to ring Oliver, and walked away from her friends.  
"Who is she calling?" Cisco asked Caitlin. They both looked at Astrid, listening intently.

"Hi Ollie, yeah I'm sorry I didn't call you earlier…"  
Cisco's face fell, "I hate that guy." He announced to Caitlin.  
"You only hate him because Astrid dated him off and on for ages... and because he is a rich handsome bachelor who could have any girl who looks his way." Caitlin reminded him, "Secretly, you're just jealous." Cisco nodded. That was it in a nutshell. They continued to listen to Astrid's conversation with the man.

"So my father says he has his men on to this whole 'animal testing case' but then he has gone and left it with me, while he is going away to deal with something else, somewhere else. But you know me. I promise I will get to the bottom of it."  
Oliver's voice on the other end of the phone tried to assure her that he wasn't mad just a little concerned for what this could mean the future of Sutherland Labs. But Astrid took it as him just trying to be polite.

After ten minutes, she finally got off the phone.  
"Do you realise that phone call went for nine minutes and… fifty-two seconds?" Cisco told her, looking at his watch.  
"Oh, what do you care? Anyway, Cisco. I don't trust my father's men. I need you to find out which floor this animal testing has been carried out on."  
"Already done," he told her promptly, "Level 32. I managed to bug a few different floors to pick up random conversations. It's amazing the stuff your father's employees talk about when they don't know the boss's people are listening."

Astrid raised her eyebrows at him, "creepy, invasive… but effective… I like it! Did you find out where the animals were kept, they have to be kept in cages somewhere…"  
"I sure did… that would be underground. I take it you have a plan?"  
"Astrid smiled, "When don't I?"


	2. Chapter 2

It was five-thirty pm and most of the scientists had headed home leaving the minority of workers on. It had been three hours since Robert Sutherland's plane had left the airport.

"Why do I have to go, again?" Caitlin asked Astrid.

"Because they all know who I am. You can easily go and distract them, while I sneak in to find where the cages are, if it doesn't go to plan, you can just pretend that you don't know me." Astrid told her.  
"It will be fine. Here are your ear pieces," Cisco tried to comfort them as he handed them small Bluetooth communicators that would sit over their ear. "That way we can keep in communication."

Caitlin and Astrid made their way into the elevator, dressed in white lab coats. "Shouldn't you be taking the stairs?" Caitlin asked her.  
"I am not climbing down sixty floors worth of stairs, just to get to one floor. I'll get off on the 39th and say I have some business to attend to." Astrid responded pushing the buttons to the elevator.  
Caitlin gulped nervously, "oh, ok."

"Look, relax. You will be fine." She tried to comfort her friend.  
"Astrid, we are not all known for sneaking around to avoid getting into trouble."

"What trouble? Caitlin. My father is your boss. Just blame it on me and you will be fine. Besides he asked me to deal with it, so we are."  
Astrid exited the, now full, elevator on the 39th floor as she had said, and made her way towards the stairs to continue on her journey.  
As she was climbing down she heard Caitlin's voice come in through the earpiece, nervously talking to the scientists on the floor. "I have been sent here to gather a couple samples, my supervisor sent me over."

"Yes, Francisco Ramon sent word," one of the voices replied.  
Astrid had reached the doorway of the 37th floor, waiting for the code word.

"Were there any samples containing the mitochondrial antibodies?" Caitlin asked nervously, speaking 'antibodies' loudly so Astrid could hear her.  
The code word! Astrid opened the door and walked in with her head to the floor. Dr Snow had led a group of scientists to the right side of the room while Astrid made her way to the left of the room. "Astrid there should be a desk at the far back corner, you need to make your way over there for the confidential data. I cant access it from here." Cisco's voice spoke softly in her earpiece.

Astrid turned her earpiece volume down slightly in case someone could hear it and made her way to the desk, looking around to see that she wasn't being watched. She looked over at Caitlin who had Astrid in her sight. "What about this sample here?" Dr Snow asked the scientists, trying to keep their attention.  
Astrid located the laptop on the desk, "found the laptop," she whispered, hoping that Cisco could hear her, "It's locked." She told him. "Okay… try it now!" he had manually unlocked it from his own computer upstairs.

"Ok, it's all good!" she told him softly as she began searching through files. She put her USB into the port to begin extracting information.  
"Is it hot in here?" Caitlin called out, clearly she was losing their attention and getting desperate. Astrid knelt under the desk as she noticed Dr Snow removing her lab coat, and flicking her hair out, attracting more attention.

She wanted to laugh at her friend's desperate improvisation, but at least it was working.  
Astrid glanced from under the desk, not an eye was gazing in her own direction. She crawled out and knelt with her head slightly above the desk to see the laptop screen. Extraction was complete!

She crawled out and noticed a shelf full of vials, one mixed with some sort of clear chemical, another with what looked like blood. Both of which had the labels clearly marked 'Gorilla: Grodd.'  
'Bingo!' Astrid thought to herself. She swiped both vials, removed her USB device and left the room, hoping that she had found what she had come here for. She made her way towards the elevator, pressed the call button and entered.

She was finally joined in the elevator by Caitlin who had swung her coat over her arm.  
"What took you so long?" she asked her friend.  
"One of them gave me their number." Caitlin told her.  
"I'm not surprised!" Astrid told her, with a smirk.  
"Did you get what we came here for?"  
"I think so, and maybe more. Let's go find Cisco."

"This data has it all!" Cisco declared once they were back in their own office on the 97th floor. "It proves that the group were working without your father's knowledge and it has the codes we need to get into where the cages are kept. It even has all the names of the scientists involved. If we can get proof like photos or something we can get the authorities to do something about it and your father won't look like he was in on the whole thing."

"Don't we have camera's down there?" Caitlin asked him."  
"We did but someone took them down a few months ago," he replied.  
"I'll do it." Astrid told them, "I will sneak in later tonight, when everyone has gone home and get some photos. Once I have them I can go to CCPD in the morning."  
"Sounds good…" Cisco told her, gazing over at the television on the wall behind her, "Where was your father's press conference to?" he asked her, his voice trailing off.  
Caitlin and Astrid both looked at the television that had captured Cisco's attention..

"… In breaking news, a meteor that is currently on route to the town of Smallville, will be leaving flight plans cancelled and a team of scientists stranded in town until further notice…" the news reporter's voice got louder as Caitlin turned up the volume.  
"Dad, didn't say." Astrid spoke softly.

The news report went on, "Lex Corp has hired a team of scientists, including Dr Robert Sutherland, to research the meteor to determine the impact that it will leave on our earth, if any. Dr Sutherland's organization has currently been making the news for unrelated accusations of cruelty to animals, this week."  
"They're making dad seem like he is some sort of criminal! I hope he will be okay." Astrid groaned at the screen. All of a sudden her phone rang, "Turn that down, it's him!" she pointed at the TV and answered her phone, stepping away from the group.

"Dad! What's going on? Where are you? You never said anything about a meteor! What does this have to do with how my mother died?"  
"Astrid, please, you need to listen!" his voice spoke softly, she remembered that tone far too well. The same tone he had used when her mother had died. She obeyed him and listened.

"This meteor is big. We need it to land for us to start our research. I promise you that we are being as safe as we can, but it is the closest thing that we have to understand chemicals that are not of this planet. This is really big! They are throwing a lot of money at us to figure it out." His voice was urgent and serious.  
"Dad! You're not making sense! What are you trying to tell me?"

"If I don't make it home, remember, I love you. The company is yours! Do with it what you will, but I want you to carry out my research on this meteor. It is going to change our world."  
"Dad! Don't be stupid! Of course you are going to make it home! What is going on?"  
"I can't tell you right now, this phone call is being listened to. I won't be able to answer if you call me back, the meteor is impacting our technology and phones. But I promise you, that you will know in all due time. Please, Astrid. I love you."  
"Dad! Ok, Dad, I love you too."

The connection went silent. She tried to call him back but she could not reach his phone, the service was unavailable. She gazed silently at the television, the meteor was to hit in less than 24 hours.  
Her friends stared at her silently. "I suppose we need to sort out this whole animal testing business." She told them lightly. She was feeling dizzy, like she was in a dream. "I will stay behind and get those photos. My dad's name will be cleared, it's the least that I can do!"


	3. Chapter 3

Astrid waited until after midnight to venture into the bottom levels of the facility. She used her father's keycard to bypass the securities. The security guards were on patrol so she made sure to keep in the darkness to not bring attention to herself.  
The floor looked run-down, the perfect place to keep animals. She didn't have to look too far until she came across some small cages containing rats and mice, sitting on a bench in the first room that she had entered.

She took out her phone and took a few pictures with the camera.  
She ventured into the next room… about a dozen cages also filled with rats and mice. The next room was like an animal shelter. Her heart sank as she saw a number of cats and dogs kept in cages. She took more pictures and left the room just as she had found it.

There was nothing in the next two rooms. However, when she reached the next room, which was the largest room, she saw cages lined from floor to ceiling containing monkeys and in the very middle of the room a cage that contained a very large gorilla.

The minute that she turned the lights on, the room sounded loudly with the occupants of the cages. The gorilla said nothing, he remained staring intently at her.  
She was frightened and in awe of his presence at the same time. "What have they done to you?" she asked him, not sure if she was expecting an answer or not. She noticed the sign on his cage door. "Grodd? Is that your name? My name is Astrid Sutherland, and I promise you that I will get you out of here. I will get you to safety." She vowed.  
Astrid took a few pictures and heard a door closing in the distance, followed by some footsteps. She quickly hid inside a storage cupboard, forgetting to turn the light off, before hand.

"Yeah, I am just checking the monkey cages…" a voice spoke out in the darkness. It was one of the security guards. How many of them knew about this animal testing business? So many would be losing their jobs over this, Astrid knew it!  
She could see through a crack in the door, of the cupboard, that the man was standing facing Grodd. "You're one ugly monkey." The man taunted.  
The monkey growled at him and surprised Astrid when it spoke, "I am Grodd! You leave now!" The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She could tell that the security guard was frightened too, nonetheless, he turned on his heels and left.

She waited until she could no longer hear the security guard's footsteps, before she let herself sigh in relief.  
"Astrid is safe!" The gorilla spoke again, once again chilling her to the bone. She stepped out of the cupboard slowly.  
"I didn't realize that you could talk," she told him. He pointed at a desk of vials, the same as the ones she had found from level 37 earlier.  
"I promise I will find out what they have been injecting you with and I will help you." She told him. "but I need to go now, before I get caught." She left the room, but didn't notice the large ape wave at her as she left.

The next morning, she slipped the two vials into the back pocket of her jeans and put her phone in to the other pocket ready for when she would speak to Captain Singh to arrange a proper investigation.

She had not yet heard from her father and he was still unavailable to reach. The news seemed to downplay the meteor, focusing all the more on trivial matters. It was a comforting thought that the meteor was nothing to be concerned about and that her father may have been worried for nothing.

Astrid arrived at CCPD and raced towards the elevator just in time to see Barry juggling three takeaway cups of coffee from Jitters and his shoulder bag full of documents,  
"Let me help you, Barry." She told him, taking two of the cups and helping him with his bag. "You look frustrated… and late… again." she pressed the button to the elevator with her elbow and tried to encourage him to breath.

"One day, captain Singh is going to fire me," he spoke nervously.  
"Use me as an excuse! Because... I need a favor from you... please!"  
"It really depends on what that favor is and when you need it done." He told her as they both entered into the elevator.

Astrid was relieved that they were the only ones in the elevator this morning. The matter was confidential. She waited until the doors of the elevator closed shut before she began to speak again.

"Do you remember the news report about my father's business being involved with animal testing?" she asked him, as she juggled the two coffee cups into one hand and pulled out the vials from her pocket.  
Suddenly, the elevator jolted violently causing Astrid to lose balance, falling onto her side against the wall of the elevator, crushing the vials in her hand on impact and spilling the coffees.

The elevator stopped as Barry tried to reach for her arm to support her. "What just happened?" she asked out loud, knowing full well that he had no clue either.  
The elevator shook wildly again and made a large BANG! This time causing Barry to fly back and the light hanging above him to come crashing down, causing them to be in total darkness. Astrid lost her balance again, this time smacking her head hard and dropping the cups and smashed vials out of her hands and falling to the floor.

She awoke to hear the static and crackling and people screaming from outside. She was still in total darkness, but she remembered where she was. Her hands hurt, the coffee had burnt one of them, and the glass of the vials had pierced the other.  
What was in those vials, it couldn't be good!

"Barry?" she called out, as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and used the light to look around her. The large elevator light had come crashing down from the roof and had landed on him.

"Barry!" she exclaimed, He had spilt coffee over himself and been hit with the light. He could have been electrocuted! She shun the light over him, he began to move and groan. She sighed in relief, "Are you okay?" she asked him. She put her phone down beside her and knelt beside him.  
She went to move him, but jumped back as she received an electric shock. Barry sat up, pushing the light off of him and looked at her. "What just caused all that?" he asked her.  
"I don't know. I think it was the meteor. I heard screams from outside the elevator. But it just doesn't make any sense, it was so far away from here. How could we be impacted by it to this extent?" She tried to dial her father, but she had no network service on her phone.

Barry reached for the emergency phone and dialed for assistance. "I got somebody," he whispered to Astrid, and then told the person on the phone what had happened.  
Astrid used the light of her phone to look at her hand. She had certainly cut her hand on the vials, and the chemicals were all over her hand, she was also bleeding.  
She attempted to take some of the glass out and tore a piece of her shirt to wrap her hand up in it, to stop the blood.

"Are you bleeding anywhere?" she asked him. He felt his head and scanned himself, "not a scratch, they should be here to help us when they can." he told her.  
Astrid's head continued to throb in pain. "Good, because I need to lay down, my head really hurts!"  
She sat with her back against the wall as he clambered next to her. "So now we wait. I really hope that I don't get fired after all this," he said, making them both laugh at their horrible situation.

All of a sudden, Barry began to shake violently, his head banged on the wall behind him. Astrid carefully laid him out on the elevator floor so he couldn't hurt himself any further. "Barry! Barry!" she cried out.

"Somebody! Please help!" she yelled out as loud as she could. Her head pulsated with pain. It was becoming unbearable. "Someone! Please help us!"  
She grabbed the emergency phone and tried to talk normally, but she could only cry out as her head felt as if it were splitting open.  
She cradled her head in her arms on the floor of the elevator, dropping the phone to floor.

Alas, she saw the shadow of the doors opening, from her peripheral vision. Someone had found them, someone had come to their rescue. She could close her eyes and rest for just a moment.


	4. Chapter 4

"Caitlin, Come quick! She's waking up!" Cisco called out to Caitlin, as he sat beside Astrid's bedside. "Her vitals are stable. Astrid. Astrid, can you hear me? It's Caitlin and Cisco."  
Astrid opened her eyes to see her friends standing by her. "aww my head… You guys found me. Wait, where's Barry?" Astrid sat up and realized that she was in Caitlin's med bay and no longer in the CCPD elevator. "Is he ok?"

"I take it Barry was the guy they found you in the elevator with…" Cisco assumed  
"Yeah, he had a seizure or something. Where is he? Is he ok?"  
"Astrid, Barry is in the hospital. He is in a coma." Caitlin told her, making Astrid gasp.

"Hey, why am I all wired up here, Caitlin? I'm ok, really. I need to go find him." Astrid told her, while removing the ECG tabs and trying to get out of the bed. She realized that she was dressed in only a hospital gown and tried to cover up.  
"Woah, Woah, Woah! Astrid, you need to stay there..." Cisco placed his hand on Astrid's shoulder in attempt to stop her from moving. "We need to tell you something, that will more than likely make you freak out a little."

"Astrid, you have been in a coma for four months now. The meteor that your dad was researching… well it wasn't the only one that landed." Caitlin told her, "There were quite a few that landed. There was a meteor shower that injured a lot of people and some people were even killed… It wiped an entire state of the map."  
"Four months? I just can't believe it!" Astrid was in shock, "Where's my dad? Did he make it? Why isn't he here?" Cisco took her hand and looked at Caitlin to continue, who paused for a moment.

Astrid heard the words clearly in Caitlin's mind before they even fell from her lips. She could only pray that they weren't true. "Astrid, your father was one of the casualties."  
"No! No! No, this has to be a mistake." Astrid could not believe her ears. "My father can't be dead!"  
Her friends didn't utter a response. She rested her face in her hands to try and make sense of everything. Her world was spinning. The pain in her head was unbearable. She wiped a few tears from her eyes and refused to let herself cry.

"Astrid, I need to run a few more tests on you and alert the rest of the medical staff of your progress. We should also be mindful of the media. The news of your father's death and you slipping into a coma have been have been all that they have been talking about lately." Caitlin told her  
"Of course it has." Astrid replied in a huff. "I need to check up on Barry, please! We need to transfer him here. We need to make sure he recovers too. We can't just leave him at the hospital."

Her friends looked at each other. Astrid could imagine in her mind just what Caitlin was thinking, she heard it as clear as day, 'There are protocols. We also need the permission of his parents. This is not a hospital.'  
"I know it isn't a hospital, but we have the best doctors here! Barry is my friend and we won't be able to get his parent's permission! His mother is dead and his father is in jail. He only has Joe and right now they need us to help him!"

Caitlin looked at her with a surprised look on her face. It was as if Astrid had read her thoughts word for word. But that was impossible, right?  
"Look, I know right now I am just deflecting my emotions and focusing on getting things done, but right now I cannot deal with how I feel. I need to focus on Barry… and what about the animal testing problems? Did that even get sorted out?"

Cisco smiled, finally something he could help with, "When the emergency crew found you they were able to locate your phone. I was able to go through it and use the pictures to launch an investigation. The animals were moved to rehabilitation centers and the staff involved were fired by your father's board and charged for animal cruelty. They won't be working for a very long time."

As if a light went on in Caitlin's mind, she jumped into action, "I need to call the board and let them know that you are awake. If you want to go to the hospital I can take you but we will need to be careful. Once the media gets wind that you have woken up from your coma they will want to get their story." She left Astrid's bedside and headed towards the phone.

"How are you feeling, in general?" Cisco asked.  
"Ask me when everything sinks in," she replied dryly, "right now, none of this is making any sense, and my head hurts like crazy." She paused for a moment. "Can you get me my clothes?" she asked him noticing her bag of clothes on the chair. He fetched them for her and left to give her some privacy. She still changed under the blankets, nonetheless.  
When Caitlin and Cisco finally returned, Astrid was standing beside the bed tying up her shoes. She had assumed that Caitlin had collected her clothes from her house as they were matched very nicely.

"if you want to visit Barry, we should do it soon." Caitlin told her, "I will drive you. We will have to be quick and we will need to not draw attention."   
"I can maintain things here…" Cisco told her, "chances are the rest of the medical staff will be up here anytime soon."  
When they were ready, Astrid and Caitlin took the elevators to the underground carpark and took Caitlin's car to the hospital. So far so good. They made it to the hospital where Caitlin began chatting to the staff at the reception desk.

Astrid spotted Joe pacing outside one of the doors in the corridor. "Joe!" she called out and ran towards him. He was surprised to see her. His eyes were wet from crying recently, he hugged her tightly. "You recovered?" he questioned her, as if she were some sort of miracle.  
"How is he?" Astrid asked him, pointing her gaze to the door and deflecting the subject from herself. "he… he… it isn't looking good." He sighed. "but if you recovered, that must mean there is hope for him, right?" Joe was desperate.

"That's what I have come to ask, I want him transferred to Sutherland Labs. We have the best doctors around and I will make sure that we do everything we can to help him."  
Joe looked uneasy for a moment, he shuffled from one foot to another as if he were weighing up both sides. "Please, Joe!" Astrid pleaded.  
They were suddenly joined by detective West's daughter, Iris, who immediately embraced Astrid in a hug before she could speak. Astrid had only really ever seen Iris in the office when she was visiting Joe or Barry.

"It's so good that you're ok!" Iris announced. Once, she let go, she looked at her father. "Has he made any progress?"  
"Not since yesterday, Astrid wants to know, if we want to transfer him to Sutherland Labs." Joe told her.  
"Yes we do!" Iris told Astrid excitedly, "Dad, they are known for being the best doctors. They have the best equipment! We need to accept her offer!"  
Joe nodded at Astrid, "Ok, yes. I will speak to the staff. Would you two like a coffee? I'm going to go get some." Astrid nodded and told him 'thank you,' as he left.

"Have you been in to see him?" Iris asked.  
"No," she answered softly, "I haven't seen him since… since it happened."  
Iris nodded and pushed the door open, "follow me," she said.

They walked into the room and sat on the chairs beside Barry's bed. It was hard to see him this way. He always seemed to nervous and somewhat dorky. But also so full of life. Not like this. The machine beside his bed beeped softly and his breathing was soft and slow.  
"So you and Barry?" Iris probed at Astrid.

"Me and Barry?" Astrid asked, raising her eyebrows, not getting what Iris was referring to.  
"How long were you two dating before it happened?"  
"I'm sorry… what? Me and Barry. No! he is just one of my friends." Astrid corrected her. Iris instantly regretted her words. "Oh, sorry. I just thought, never mind." Iris glanced awkwardly at her phone. "Look, my boyfriend, Eddie just messaged me. I am going to step out for a minute, I will leave you here for a bit if you like." Iris turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Astrid sat in silence. She tried to recall anything from being in her own coma but she couldn't recall a thing. It was just like being asleep. She wondered what Barry might be seeing, dreaming or even thinking.  
A vision came into her mind. She saw darkness. But in the darkness she saw lightning bolts flickering and then live electricity running through cables. The darkness faded and she saw the color red. The lightning flickered still. The scene then changed and she saw Barry. She saw him running faster than any normal person could run, surrounded by the same lightning bolts.

Then just as soon as it had appeared, the vision disappeared again. Astrid felt a sharp headache occur. It was intense for a few seconds and then it dulled down again to a light throb.  
She thought she saw Barry's leg move. Like it had twitched, though she assumed that it was her imagination. His hand sat above the blanket, she focused on it. She willed Barry to move his hand. Then it happened, His hand twitched.

Astrid placed her hand on his. She tried to tell herself that she had only imagined it. That her eyes were playing tricks on her. She told him in her mind to move his hand again. But then she felt him twitch his finger from under her hand. She jumped back, startled.  
"Barry," she whispered. "Can you hear me?" though he didn't talk back or even move his face in the slightest. So she thought the same words to him using her mind. 'Barry, can you hear me?'

She imagined his voice, as clear as day in her own mind. 'Yes, Astrid. I hear you. What is going on? Where am I?' Her imagination was beginning to run wild. She wondered if this was a side effect from her coma.  
'You're in a coma, Barry. There was a meteor storm while we were in the elevator. You're in hospital but we will be transferring you to Sutherland Labs.'  
There was no response, she wasn't sure why she was even expecting one. She needed to stop letting her imagination get the better of her.  
Her head began to hurt even more than before. It was excruciating! She sunk back in her chair and grasped her head in her hands. "Astrid, are you ok?" Caitlin had found her.  
"It's just my head. I need something for the pain… my head hurts." She told her friend.

The pain had died down again. It continued to come in waves. Once it had hit its peak it mellowed again, giving her a chance to think clearly.  
"Astrid, there are a few reporters outside the hospital." Joe had joined them and was handing her a coffee, "I can give you a ride back to the labs if you like." Astrid thanked Joe, sipped her coffee and nodded. "Yes please," Caitlin answered.

"…In breaking news, sources say that Dr Robert Sutherland's daughter has awoken from her coma. Word has yet to confirm if she will be taking on her father's legacy of running Sutherland Labs…" Cisco turned the television off as Astrid, Caitlin and Detective Joe West entered the room.

"…Girl, you have barely been out for two hours and you have already brought the police home to our door." Cisco joked.  
"This is who you want me to leave Barry in the care of?" Joe asked Astrid.  
"I can assure you, detective that he is not on our medical team." Caitlin began, "Cisco is just our mechanical engineer and a friend of ours."  
"Cisco Ramon, sir" Cisco held out his hand to shake Joe's hand.  
"Detective Joe West. I think we met briefly a few months ago when the CCPD investigated Sutherland Labs for animal testing." 

Cisco nodded and then picked something up from the desk."This came for you while you were out, Astrid." He handed her a business card that said 'Clarks and Sons', making her freeze in her tracks.  
"That's my father's lawyers." She said softly. She sat down slowly at the desk staring blankly at the card. "This is about my father's will… me inheriting the business." She told Cisco.  
He took the seat next to her and placed his arm around her shoulder comfortingly, while Caitlin, led Joe to her med bay to discuss Barry's transfer.

"I don't know what I need to do. I don't know where I need to start. My father is dead. my friend is in a coma. I just woke up from one, and I am supposed to take over an entire organization." Astrid felt the tears begin to fall down her cheeks, but she wiped them away with her sleeve and sniffled a little.  
Cisco pressed his cheek into Astrid's shoulder and waited for her to go on.  
"I am not going to break. I need to remain strong. I shouldn't be falling apart right now." Astrid didn't know what else to say.

"Astrid, we have been best friends since high school. So it's safe to say that I know you. I remember when your mother passed away. You felt as if your whole world was crumbling. Do you remember what you did? You toughed it out! That's what you do! And that's what I know you will do this time. And I want you to know that I believe that you will get through it. I want you to do whatever you need to get through this. Just remember, Caitlin and I will both stand by you, through whatever you choose to do. We're like family!"

Astrid rested the side of her head on Cisco's and smiled. This was exactly what she needed to hear. She wiped the fresh tears from her face. "Ok. Let's call the lawyers. I know what I need to do! And were going to pour Sutherland's Labs resources into researching the meteor storm!"


	5. Chapter 5

"Well that went better than I thought it would," Astrid sighed as she closed the door from her father's lawyer's office and met Cisco in the hallway. "My father has left me everything. The business, his offsite bank accounts, the house… everything."  
"You mean the mansion?" Cisco corrected her.  
"I mean my home. Has Barry been transferred over yet?"  
"Caitlin is finishing off the paperwork as we speak. She called while you were in there." They left the firm, and headed out into the carpark to find Astrid's car.

"Ahhhhgggghhh!" They heard a lady scream and looked around to find a man restraining a woman against a wall. Astrid, remembering her years of martial arts, ran towards the two, with Cisco close behind.  
"Leave her alone!" she told the thug.

"Why? Do you want in, Miss Sutherland? I suppose I can make some money out of it." The man sneered, throwing the other girl to the ground. Astrid looked at Cisco to comfort the girl, so he did, as she dodged a punch that she predicted to come from the man.  
"Quick, aren't ya?" the guy said.  
"No, you're just too slow." She teased back. She predicted him coming at her again. She dodged, perfectly. It surprised her that she could predict his moves coming before they made an impact.

He came at her again, this time her dodge was followed with a counter attack. A punch to the face and then as he covered his face, a kick to the groin. "Owww, you bitch!" he cried out in pain. She stood ready for him to come at her again. He did so, this time reaching for her arm. She grabbed at his hand and gave him an uppercut.

The man stood no chance, and he knew it! "Look, fine! I will leave you all alone!" the man groaned, and he did so, running as far as he could away from them.  
Astrid grinned. Maybe the man had just been predictable, but that was the first fight that she had been in, where she had been left unscathed. It was almost as if she could read his mind, just as she had done so earlier with her friends. But that… that would be impossible!

"Well done!" Cisco boasted, "he didn't leave a scratch on you."  
"I'm glad you learnt your lesson from last time, that I can look after myself." She told him.  
The woman thanked Astrid. "That's ok, will you be alright getting home?" Astrid asked her.  
"My car is over there. I should be fine."

The woman left and drove out of the carpark as Astrid and Cisco watched her leave..  
"I would like to see you dodge this…" a stranger's voice broke Astrid's heroic moment, as a ball of flame came pelting past her head and hitting the wall behind her, making the wall catch aflame.

She looked into the direction of the man who had spoken, she envisioned him forming another from his very hand. But then he did. He was about to fling it at her until she dodged it. " Run, Cisco! Get help! Get water!" she shouted as she dodged another.

"Are you crazy? I'm not leaving you with Flame Thrower, here!" Cisco shot back at her.  
"Don't argue with me, Cis! Just do it!" Astrid shot back. She heard the man's thoughts. He was going to aim at Cisco for his next one. Astrid charged the man. She missed and he threw a ball of fire just passing her shoulder.

She was close enough to get him. She punched him in the face, her fist meeting his cheek. He threw another ball of flame, this time it met her leg. It burnt threw her jeans and she felt the pain in her leg immediately. She cried out in pain.  
She decided to test herself, to see if she could indeed read minds. This time she saw his next move in her mind. She heard his thoughts. She knew the exact moment that he would raise his hand again, this time aiming for her face. She would not let that happen.

Once again, she charged at him, this time throwing him on to the ground and missing the latest ball of flame. She was kneeling over him, with her foot to his throat and restraining both his wrists with her hands.

He tried to struggle free, Astrid's foot sunk deeper into his windpipe, making him gasp. "How did you do that?!" She demanded an answer. The man tried to laugh, but he could only cough. "How did you do it!" She demanded again.

The man's face began to go blue, Astrid heard emergency sirens nearby. "Astrid, you're going to kill him!" she could hear Cisco's voice and she knew that he could be right at any minute. But she could not take this man's life. She neither moved her foot closer, nor moved it further away. Her eyes locked onto the man's face.  
He was staring back at her. She could hear his thoughts. She could really hear his thoughts as if he were speaking right to her. She was afraid of herself at that point. She was able to do something that had never been before possible. But then so could this man. He could create fire from his bare hands. The question was 'How was this possible?'

"Miss Sutherland! You need to unhand the man right now." She recognized the voice. He was a detective at CCPD, she tried to remember his name… Eddie?"  
"You don't understand, detective Thawne. This man caused that fire over there. If I let his wrists go, he will only cause another or he will hurt the lot of us." In her peripheral view she could see that he had a gun pointed on her. She could also see firemen setting up to put out the fire beside her.  
She remembered that her best friend was staring right at her. She could not kill this man. It was not in her to take a life. "Detective Eddie Thawn? I need you to handcuff this man, but you need to tie his hands into fists first."

Eddie was finding it hard to believe her, though he felt that doing so might be in the best interest for everyone. Another officer handed him some rope along with some handcuffs. He walked slowly towards Astrid, as she released her pressure from the man's throat, though still holding his wrists.

Detective Thawne tied the man's hands into fists before cuffing him and standing him up. "Whatever happened here, Miss Sutherland." Eddie told her, "We will get to the bottom of this. I don't believe your story that he threw fire. I just thought you should know that."  
Detective Thawne led the man into a police car to be guarded by another officer and approached Astrid again. "Maybe you should come to the station."  
Before Astrid could even respond she watched as the patrol car exploded before her very over Eddie's shoulder "Detective Thawn. Quick! Your officer!" she yelled at him, pointing at the car.

Eddie turned around, grabbing at his gun, and shooting at the man who had started the blaze. He was attempting to run, but Eddie was too quick with his weapon. He shot the man, before he could escape.  
The three of them, along with the firefighters had seen the entire thing. No one knew what to say. The officer that had been in the car had died instantly. "I need the two of…" Eddie started, trying to remain calm, "…the two of you to come with me to the station. We need to figure out just what has happened here."  
Astrid didn't try to argue. "I can drive you, if you like, detective," she told him, as he no longer had a car. "I would appreciate that…" he replied.


	6. Chapter 6

Astrid and Cisco accompanied Eddie to CCPD. Over the past few months it had received a few upgrades. Astrid froze in her tracks as she saw the elevator. Cisco, understanding why, put his arm around her supportively, and suggested to Eddie that they take the stairs.

"Oh, I apologise, Astrid," Eddie said truthfully and he lead them to the staircase instead. "CCPD suffered some severe damages when the meteors hit. Thankfully the military took most of the rock away and assisted with the cleanup. I understand your hesitation with the elevators, though I assure you for next time, the elevators are as good as new."  
"Noted!' Astrid told him. They walked up the stairs. Of all the years that she had worked for the CCPD, she had only ever came up them a small number of times. It was out of pure laziness, of course.

They reached the floor and stepped through the doorway. Once Eddie opened the door, she was welcomed by the site of the bustle of detectives at work at their desks, on the phones or just walking through the office.  
In the far corner the television report sounded out over the room. "…Star City vigilante the Arrow has had his work cut out for him, as of late, due to the increase of criminals roaming the streets since the meteor shower…"

"I wonder if your boyfriend knows who the Arrow is," Cisco spoke to Astrid in a tone with undisguised annoyance.  
"Ollie and I broke up years ago, Cisco. You know that so just get over it!" Astrid shot back at him.  
"Astrid Sutherland! You're here to work I assume! Didn't you just get out of a coma? That's what I call a commitment to the job!" Captain Singh's voice broke in over the loud bustle.

"Actually Captain, she is here to help me with an investigation. We need access to some of the street's camera footage on Helms street. There was an incident with an arsonist… these two are here to give their statements as they were at the scene of the crime."  
Captain Singh's face fell. "Oh, that's a shame. Your stand-in is nowhere as good as you were. I hope you get back to work soon." Astrid wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or not. she could have sworn that Singh had it out for her.

The truth was that she truly didn't want to be here. Her leg hurt. She had checked it back at the crime scene. Fortunately, there was only a minor burn. Her jeans had minimised the impact to her skin. She wanted to go home to bed. She hadn't been home to her house in… four months?  
Her phone rang. It was Caitlin. "Caitlin, Hi! We will be back when we can. There was an incident and we are currently at CCPD." She told her friend.  
"Astrid, are you watching the news? People know that you're awake from your coma!"

"… Reports of an incident involving an arsonist attack on a police car revealed that the daughter of the late Robert Sutherland, Astrid Sutherland, is indeed alive and awake from her coma…" the news reporter spoke.

"Sorry, Caitlin, I will need to talk to you later." Astrid ended the call, while Caitlin was in mid-sentence. The next scene on the TV showed street footage of the car exploding, making Captain Singh furious. "What the hell happened there Eddie? How is this already in the hands of the media? A car exploded? Was anyone hurt?!"  
Eddie looked at the floor, feeling the grief from the officer that had died at the scene. "Detective Summers died at the scene, Sir…" he replied sadly.

Singh looked at Eddie, "I need an official report as soon as you have one," he told the detective, "I need to explain this to Miss Summers family." Singh stormed off to his office.  
Astrid spotted Joe from across the room, he immediately rushed over. "How are you feeling?" he asked her, concerned for her welfare. "I just saw the news reports. So much for laying low until you gather your bearings."

Astrid noticed detective Thawne's look of embarrassment. It dawned on her. Iris's boyfriend, was indeed this Eddie. Detective Joe West's colleague. Clearly Joe had no idea what was going on. Astrid would not be the one to tell him. She focused on their minds. Their thoughts confirmed that her assumptions were indeed correct.  
"I am fine, Joe. Thanks for your concern. But I think I need to assist Eddie with this case." Astrid told him, trying to sound fine. Though in her mind, she knew that she really wasn't fine.

Eddie led Cisco and Astrid to his desk and they all sat down. Eddie rubbed his temples with his fingers. "Now what happened, Astrid? You said that if I didn't tie up his fists that he would start a fire. How is that even possible without him holding a lighter?" he asked her.  
"I know you saw what he did, Eddie. When your car pulled up. You saw him throw a ball of fire. Didn't you?" Astrid asked him. She had heard his thoughts at the scene, though he had been struggling to comprehend what had happened before his very eyes.  
"That is impossible. Don't be ridiculous." Detective Thawn told her, unconvincingly.  
"Sounds impossible! But somehow the impossible has become possible today." Astrid argued. She was still trying to come to terms with herself being able to read people's thoughts.

She looked away and saw another detective. She tried to probe his mind as she had done so before. Yep, she could read his thoughts too. Astrid could feel another headache coming on. She needed something for it.  
Eddie had gone silent, though he was tapping his pen to his desk trying to think. 'This is impossible. I know what I saw, but there must be some trick. He must have had some lighter. But I didn't see anything in his hands when I arrested him. His hands were in tight fists. Yet he made my car explode! This just doesn't make any sense!'  
"No it doesn't make sense, does it?" Astrid asked him, forgetting that it had been his mind talking and not his mouth, He looked up at her, puzzled. He shook his head softly. "Look, the two of you are free to go home. I know what happened, I am just trying to figure out how to do this report."

She looked at Cisco and they both got up to leave. "That meteor seems to be changing people…" Eddie told them, "It's as if people are getting extraordinary abilities because of it…"  
Astrid and Cisco didn't respond. They left his desk quietly and made their way towards the staircase. "Cisco, I can't be afraid to go on an elevator, forever." She told her friend and she made her way towards the elevator doors instead, and pressed the call button. They waited for the elevator and once it arrived they walked in. She felt nervous, that the elevator could crash again at any minute. But it didn't.

"He is right about the meteor and its effects on people." Cisco told her. "Today was not the first incident of someone having certain abilities. Caitlin was concerned that you might be somewhat gifted too."

Astrid remained quiet. She didn't want to read Cisco's mind. She would not invade his privacy like that. But she knew what he was thinking without even probing.  
"Do you have any abilities, Astrid?" he asked her.  
Maybe it was because she couldn't quite understand what was going on with her. Maybe it was because she felt as if she was going crazy. Or maybe she was just not ready to deal with everything that was going on, but she regretted her words, the minute they slipped from her lips.

"No, Cisco. No special abilities. Nothing comes to mind." She lied to him. He seemed satisfied with that response. But then something crossed her mind. "What about you?" she asked him.

He shook his head and answered, "Nope. Nothing at all. It would be cool though." She knew her friend. He was lying to her. But then, so was she to him. Maybe he couldn't tell her for the same reasons that were plaguing herself. Nonetheless, she refused to probe his mind. She chose to let him keep his lie.  
The two of them reached their office in Sutherland Labs to find a team of doctors in Caitlin's medical bay. It had not been this packed in quite some time. Robert Sutherland had designated this floor to Astrid and her friends to try and encourage her to work for him.  
At the time that he had decided this, Caitlin and Cisco, being Astrid's close friends were both at the top of their fields, so this meant that they too got their own private floor along with her.

The two of them could hear Caitlin barking orders at the team of doctors. Barry had arrived and was laying in one of the beds, connected to the machines alongside him. Astrid knew that her plans of filling Caitlin in on what happened would have to wait until the floor was clear again.


	7. Chapter 7

Two days later Astrid set up her first official meeting with the board members of Sutherland Labs. Without the assistance of her friends there, her nerves were up very high. Cisco had been able to act as her technical assistant in setting up the communication channels from the CEO's of other Sutherland laboratories from around the globe, before the meeting, while Caitlin supplied the room's drinking water and glasses.

But they were now gone and she was alone, sitting in her father's chair at the head of the long table. It felt wrong being here in his seat getting to lead a panel of men and women towards the future of the entire chain on facilities globally.

Yesterday she had given Oliver Queen a call, asking him for advice. Who better than to give her advice than a man who had been through the same thing? When he had spoken to her it had eased her a little, even gibing her enough confidence enough to go through with it. But that was yesterday, her nerves were riding high again.  
She felt her phone vibrate from in her pocket. It was Oliver. "Good luck" the message read. She breathed deeply and poured herself a drink, just in time for the door to open, making her jump and spill a little water on the table.

A group of men and women began pouring into the room and taking their seats at the table and giving her a brief nod or a "hello'. When the last seat was filled and she was certain that everyone from the other sites were linked in, she was ready to begin.  
"Attention everybody." She spoke with her regular tone. Some people looked at her briefly, though continued speaking among themselves. She cleared her throat a little, though people couldn't hear her.

Then out of nowhere, she gathered the courage to speak up loudly in front of everyone. "Attention everyone!" she spoke clearly so everyone could hear her. "For those of you who may not know me, I am Astrid Sutherland. I am Robert Sutherland's daughter."

She felt a knot in her stomach emerge at the sheer mention of her father's name, but she refused to let it affect her at that moment. "From this point onwards I will be taking lead of the business just as my father had wanted. Though I have a few items that I would like to discuss with you all."  
She watched as there were a few murmurs about the room, she probed the minds of those in the room to get an idea of how she was doing so far. 'This child thinks that she can just take control of a business like that? She has a thing or two to learn…'

'I still cannot believe her father is dead. I hope she knows just what she is doing.' Came another thought. 'Good start, girlie… keep going.' The last thought came from a colleague of her father's that she had met a few occasions. An older polite gentleman.

"Before my father passed away, you may or may not remember that he was researching into the meteor in the town of Smallville. Well at the time, he created a will, that if I were to carry on his legacy, that we pour Sutherland's resources into continuing his research. He sent along a few samples of the meteor, in which he died collecting."  
Astrid reached into her handbag under the table and pulled out a large fragment of black rock, about the size of a loaf of bread, only much heavier. It was lined with green crystals throughout it. She placed it on the table in front of them all and then continued to speak.

"This rock has been identified as kryptonite. Unfortunately no much is known of it at this point in time, My associates will bring a sample to each floor of this facility in order for us to continue to study it further, as my father had wished. At the moment there are very little samples available to us, as I understand that the military retrieved a great deal of it from Central City during the cleanup. Do I have any questions, as of yet?"

To Astrid's relief, one lady put her hand up, she nodded for the lady to ask her question. "When the shower occurred there were rumors that the radiation caused some people to develop magic powers, is this true? And is the meteor itself dangerous?" Astrid wasn't really sure what this meteor was capable of.

"I am not sure of the answers to either one of those questions. But I do know that I have been able to handle the stone just fine, as was the person who held it before me. Though, I would suggest that all of you exercise great caution. Do not handle the rock unnecessarily. Are there any other questions?" She avoided the 'magic powers' question deliberately.  
She looked around and saw that a man put his hand up. She nodded for him to ask his question, "do you really expect us to follow your lead just because your father was Robert Sutherland? What experience do you have? You could simply run this business to the ground and we would all lose our jobs… our livelihoods! Would you even care?"

This question caused a great bustle amongst the boardroom. Some people argued that the man was right, others defended Astrid saying to 'give her a chance'. The noise level began to get high and the CEO's via the comm links were trying to come to terms with what was happening.  
Astrid needed to take back control of the room. She needed to say something, and then she remembered something that Oliver had told her about demanding control even if they tried to take it away from her.

"ATTENTION EVERYBODY!" she raised her voice, demanding their attention. It had the desired effect. They all looked right at her and so she went on. "You all have every right to be concerned with my plans for this business. But I assure you that it is ultimately the same view that my father had for it. When he first founded this organization it was to research terminal diseases. The very diseases that take away our loved ones. Well my father died researching this meteor and I understand that it has taken away so many other loved ones, as well as my father. I will endeavor to pour our resources into continuing his work. Whether you choose to move forward with me or not is entirely up to you."  
Astrid watched the committee sitting in their chairs. She was waiting for an answer from them. The man who had spoken before stood up from his chair, picked up his briefcase and left the room. A few others followed after him.

Had Astrid said the wrong thing? She didn't feel like she had. She had stood by her convictions as she had been prepared to do so. The room had started off with approximately 20 men and women. Fortunately, only six had left. The elderly gentleman who had thought those comforting words earlier stood up, though instead of leaving he spoke up instead.  
"Miss Sutherland. I knew your father for a very long time. I knew that when he envisioned something, he held the sheer determination to make it a reality. I can see that you take after your father in this same way. I for one, look forward to this new project and working under your leadership."

"Thank you, Mr…" Astrid was appreciative of his words, but apologetic that she didn't know his name. "Mr Hayes." He introduced himself.  
"Thank you, Mr Hayes. I think we may need to create a system until I learn of every body's names. I will have plaques made up for everyone by the next meeting. Now, unless anyone has any other agendas to bring up…?" she looked around but nobody had any business to speak of.  
"Ok, this meeting is adjourned? Finished? Wow, that was quick…" she added.

There was a final bustle. Eventually, the room was cleared and the remote connections were disconnected. Astrid was indeed alone with her thoughts.

She poured another glass of water and began responding to Oliver's message, when the door opened again. She gathered her composure, expecting one of the board members to return. Instead it was Caitlin and Cisco.

"Very well done!" Caitlin complimented her efforts.  
"How do you guys know how it went?" Astrid asked them, puzzled.  
"Do you really think I would set up the comm system without linking you into our network too?" Cisco asked her, with a chuckle. "We watched the whole thing! Tough crowd but you were able to rally the majority of them."

"By the way, Astrid, you had a phone call from the head of Luthor corp." Caitlin began, "His name is Lionel Luthor and he asked for you to call him. He said that he had some sort of proposition for you. He would not go into it with me, but he left his number and asked for you to contact him as soon as possible."


	8. Chapter 8

"So how is Barry?" Astrid asked Caitlin, as they rode the elevator to their floor so that Astrid could call Mr Luthor back. "That's what I have been meaning to tell you. There are some peculiar readings with his vitals."

"What do you mean peculiar?" she asked her puzzled, this topic also grasped Cisco's attention.  
"His readings are off the charts." Caitlin told them, "His cells are moving at such a rapid speed for someone who has been electrocuted post slipping into a coma. It is almost as if there are electrical currents working within his body. I believe that he may have been altered due to the effects of the meteor, along with the lights when he was struck."  
"What do you think the effects may be?" Astrid asked her,

"I'm not sure yet, we may need to find out." Caitlin responded leading them out of the elevator doors.  
They had arrived to their floor, already and made their way to Barry's bed.  
The floor was quiet, which Astrid enjoyed. Barry continued to lay sleeping peacefully. "Has Joe been to check on him?" she asked her friends.  
Caitlin nodded, "he didn't want to leave".

Astrid glanced up towards her father's office. She imagined her father walking out at any minute, though she knew it was impossible. "Well he does see Barry as a son." She said softly. "So where is this guy Luthor's number? I'll call him now."

Caitlin handed Astrid a piece of paper with some details scribbled neatly in blue pen.  
She took the paper and made her way to her own private office, closing the door behind her, preparing to call the man of the organization who had last seen her father alive.  
She dialed the number and waited for the receptionist to pick up the phone. "Hello, Mr Lionel Luthor's office, how may I help you?" a high pitched feminine voice answered.

Astrid hesitated. This would be her first phone call that she would make as a CEO of her father's company.  
"Hi, er… my name is Astrid Sutherland? I received a call from…" she mentally checked the words in her head hoping that she sounded professional, the woman on the other end broke her off. "…Putting you through to Lionel's office right now…"

There was a pause and then a click and then "This is Lionel Luthor." He sounded as if he were her father's age. "Hi, this is Astrid Sutherland. You rang?" she mentally kicked herself for her lack of professionalism.  
"Ahh yes, Miss Sutherland… My condolences to your father, but let me get down to business. I am aware that your father sent you samples of the meteor from the meteor storm, against my knowledge…"

Astrid gasped, was he expecting her to send them all back? Caitlin had told her that he had some sort of proposition.  
"…However, I understand that Sutherland Labs has quite some standing in today's research industry. So I would like to kindly ask for you to join forces with Luthor Corp. What I am proposing is that I supply you with more samples of the meteor and you report your findings with me. We could work together on this project."

Astrid hesitated in answering. She had heard negative talk in relation to Luthor Corp in the past. Sutherland Labs had their samples why would they need more?  
After noting her hesitation, Lionel continued speaking, "…I can hear hesitation from your part. Let me assure you that if you do refuse, your father's name will be branded as a thief. He rightfully stole Luthor Corp property when he sent it to Sutherland Labs. But if you do accept the deal, we can forget that it ever happened. We can start fresh…on good terms. What do you say Miss Sutherland?"

Astrid felt the pang in her gut. She had a bad feeling about all of this but she would not let her father's name go down as a thief. "Okay, Mr Lionel. I accept your conditions. What do you need me to do?"  
"Good girl! Nicely done. We will be in touch." He told her. Suddenly the phone went silent. He had hung up. She felt as if she were being patronized. She put down her receiver softly and looked up as Cisco walked in curious as to why she had a frustrated expression on her face.

"That man is a bully." She told him. "We will be working with Luthor Corp from here on. The employees are going to hate this, but we have no choice." Cisco wanted to tell her that she was making a big mistake. She could see it in his face. She agreed with him, but she was feeling powerless to stop it.  
A few days had passed and Astrid did her best to avoid the news reports which branded her as a sell-out in teaming up with Luthor Corp.  
"They will need you to deliver a press conference," Joe told Astrid as he came to visit Barry. "I cannot do it!" she told him. "I hate the decision as much as anyone does, but we need these samples. We need this opportunity."

She refused to tell him that she was being blackmailed by the man.  
"I just hope that you know what you are doing, Astrid. People have begun quitting. We need our scientists." Cisco informed her. "You have to do something, to assure them that you are not selling out the business."

"How many have left, so far? We only just released the news two days ago."  
"By these reports? 107." He answered her staring at his computer screen.  
"107? That many?" she couldn't believe it. "Ok, I'll set something up. I might have to do it at CCPD for the security."  
"I can arrange that for you, if you like," Joe offered. "I am about to head home, but I can contact Singh on the way."  
Astrid accepted and Joe left to arrange it.

Astrid watched as Caitlin began checking Barry's vitals again. Cisco busied himself with his computer. Her grief was catching up with her, she was nervous about the press conference. Her father's entire legacy was riding on her shoulders. It all seemed too much to bare. She needed a distraction from feeling this way. From feeling that her entire world was crumbling.

How could her friends be so calm while Astrid's world was falling apart? She was jealous of them both at that point. But she was also depending on them both to keep her standing tall. Both of them were locked within their own thoughts. She watched as Caitlin was now bustling with her back to her, fiddling with her glass beakers.  
Astrid needed to know what was going on through her mind. How did she do it? How did she remain so calm? What was her secret? She allowed herself to do something that she shouldn't have. She read Caitlin's thoughts…

'Did I really just do that? Did I just make frost form on that glass beaker? No, I didn't. Oh! That's a relief. I thought I was going crazy. Someone is looking at me…'  
Caitlin turned around and met Astrid's gaze, expecting her to say something. But Astrid didn't. She built up the courage to walk to her father's office door and placed her hand on the handle. She hesitated opening it. Her friends were both staring at her, she was aware of that.

She took a breath in. She knew that she would eventually enter this office sooner or later. She wanted to push herself. Astrid turned the handle and walked in to the room.  
Immediately, thoughts began to flush in to her mind. She remembered the last time that she had stood here. She remembered the argument that she had had with her father, about the animal testing.

It seemed like a lifetime ago. She remembered the last time she saw her father as he left in a hurry with his assistant. His assistant had died in the attack too, or so she had heard.  
Her mind was brought back to the present. To this empty room. She walked slowly towards his neat desk. A few documents sat on top of a manila folder in a neat pile.  
His computer was closed. The photo in the golden frame caused a tear to fall down her cheek. It was of the last holiday that she, her father and her mother had taken as a family. Her parents had disputed as to who would ask the stranger to take the photo. Astrid had done so while they were debating. It had been an amazing day that day.

"Are you ok?" a voice interrupted her thoughts from behind her.  
She jumped as she turned around. Cisco was standing there, concerned for her. Her mind was still elsewhere, as she wiped the tear from her cheek and sniffled.  
She studied him. She wondered why he had followed her. She couldn't control herself as she experienced a moment of weakness, she read his thoughts. As she did, she wished that she could take back her action, for she regretted it instantly.

'How do I say it? How do I tell her?' Cisco thought to himself, unaware that Astrid could hear his thoughts, 'Just say it… Tell her you love her. That you would do anything for her. That you have loved her from the very first moment you saw her…'  
"Hey Astrid…" Caitlin came charging into the office, "Joe called captain Singh on his way home. Singh said that you can hold the press conference there but you need to move quickly…"

Astrid was relieved for the intrusion. She did not need any more emotions impacting her current situation. "Thank you, Caitlin." She exclaimed as she ran out of her father's office and headed to the elevator without a second glance.


	9. Chapter 9

Astrid arrived at the CCPD before word spread that she was to make a press conference in an hour. She jotted down a few notes to keep her on track as she had seen her father do multiple times.

She had left without her friends in hope to break the awkward tension that she had experienced with Cisco. She could have sworn for a minute by the look on his face, as she turned to leave that, he knew that she was reading his mind. She felt that maybe she was paranoid.

She tapped her pen to her paper and the door opened. "Astrid," it was Joe, "Everyone is ready out there. Good luck!"  
She stood up and shifted uneasily on her feet looking at Joe nervously. Before she passed him he put his hand on her shoulder, in a fatherly way.  
"Don't fret. You will be fine, just speak from your heart." He told her.

She nodded and let Joe lead her to the lobby which was packed with reporters and camera crews. Captain Singh was making introductions. She wasn't sure if she had really heard him say her name or if she had imagined it.

By the mixed reactions of the crowd he had clearly done so. Joe led her to the podium. Cisco was there setting up the microphone. He had clearly volunteered for this job.  
Nerves rushed over her as she took in the atmosphere around her. She sat in her seat and breathed in deeply. Clutching her notes tightly as if they would save her from being swallowed whole. She glanced at the sea of reporters, microphones and cameras before. It was now or never, she had to get it over with.

"Hello" she began,. "For those of you who do not know who I am, I am Astrid Sutherland." She was off to a good start, she convinced herself, "a few months ago we suffered a global meteor shower. At the time, my father, Robert Sutherland was called to the town of Smallville for business. That very meteor shower injured and killed so many people… My father included!" She felt a tightening in her stomach at the mere mention of his name, but refused to let it derail her.

"In my father's will, he left Sutherland Labs to me. He wanted me to continue his work in diseases. But he also risked a lot, for us to continue his work and study the meteor. His life included…Now I know that many of you disagree with his decision to leave the future of Sutherland labs in my hands. You will also disagree with my decision that I am about to confirm, But I promise you all that it is for the good of science and it is for the good of future research itself. I recently received a phone call from the head of Luthor Corp. and from that call I was offered a deal, so I took it! Sutherland Labs will be working with Luthor Corp to research the meteor. They have agreed to share their resources with us in exchange for knowledge. But I assure you that I will strive to uphold the honest values that my father instilled into Sutherland is my promise to not only all of you, but also my father. Are there any questions?"

A female reporter standing right in front of Astrid raised her hand, so Astrid called on her. "There have been rumors that the meteor shower has changed people's very DNA, giving them super powers. Can you confirm this?"

Astrid thought of herself, she thought of the man who had thrown fire balls. She knew the answer but she wanted to avoid sending the room into a panic, though she knew that she couldn't lie. She chose her words carefully. "Those rumors are one thing that we would like to research." She answered.  
"Are you saying that you do not know for sure?" another reporter spoke out of turn. Astrid felt uncomfortable in her seat, "I am saying…"

She began but she was once again interrupted by another person. This time a female in the back, of whim she didn't see her face. "Well you are all about to find out!"  
All of a sudden the lights began to flicker as a shrill scream rang out at such a high frequency that all the glass and windows in the vicinity began to smash. People covered their ears and ran as quickly as they could for the exits.

"Astrid, follow me." Joe told her as he led her to one of the side exits. Officers around them jumped into action, restraining the woman. She let out another shrill Joe and Astrid ran to safety amongst the chaos of people.  
They finally made it safely outside, "what was that?" Joe asked, Astrid didn't answer. Her phone had begun ringing from in her pocket. 'Oliver Queen'.  
"Oliver, now really isn't a good time." She told him.

"Yeah, so I saw. Great speech by the way!"  
"Ollie, I have to go. Things are just… things are just really, really hard right now…"  
"Trust me I know what that is like, and that is why I am calling you. I want you to know that if you need someone to turn to. If you need help with coping, just remember… you're not alone!"

"Thanks Ollie," Astrid told him dryly, "I appreciate that. Though everything is fine. I assure you. You don't need to worry about me. Besides, you wouldn't understand if I told you." Astrid prepared herself to hang up on him.  
"You would be surprised. But just call me if you need anything, anytime ok?" he asked.  
Astrid ended the call without so much as saying goodbye. Some reporters had decided to deliver their stories at that very moment from outside CCPD.  
"Can you take me home, Joe?" she asked him. "I think I need to be alone."


	10. Chapter 10

Astrid arrived home, to what Cisco would call, her mansion and sent the staff home early. She didn't want the temptation to read their minds. She turned the television on for a moment only to see reports of what had just occurred at the CCPD. She changed the channel to find some melodrama. She decided to immerse herself into program to escape from her own life.

She kept expecting her father to walk in at any minute to tell her that the plot just didn't make sense. Though he didn't. she pulled out her phone and flicked through some pictures. She saw one of her father and stared at him for a moment.  
She felt like a horrible daughter as she still hadn't even visited his grave site. Though she knew that she wasn't ready to do so. She thought that she had heard something from upstairs. She climbed off the couch and turned off the television.

Clutching her phone, she quietly made her way towards the staircase and up the stairs. The door in front of her led to her father's office. It was closed. She could not sense anyone up there. She felt that maybe she had imagined the noise. She placed her phone into her pocket.

She walked slowly towards the door and placed her hand on the handle, opening the door automatically and looking in the room. It was lined with wooden furniture including bookshelves and a wooden desk. The chair was made from comfortable black leather. On the desk sat his computer, a box of tissues, some pens and a small white envelope.  
She sat down on the chair and leant back. She had forgotten how comfortable his chair was. She glanced at the envelope. It was addressed to her. She studied it suspiciously. There was not a speck of dust on it, someone had clearly been into this room to drop it off recently, it sent an eerie chill down her spine.

She picked it up and ran the edges between her fingers and thumb as she contemplated opening it. Her curiosity got the better of her, she opened it and pulled out the letter and read.

'My dearest Astrid.  
If you are reading this letter, I am no longer with you and Sutherland Labs is now in your hands. You may be wondering why I have saddled you with such a burden. It is because I know that you will do the right thing. You will make it your own.  
I am writing you this letter to explain a few things that you will need to know over the coming months.  
The meteor contains green crystals such as kryptonite. I managed to find out that it came from a planet that has been destroyed.  
It has given people powers that are from out of this world. It has also killed people. Lionel Luthor will stop at nothing to find out what it does and where it is from. Which means that he will use you and Sutherland Labs resources to get what he wants. Please do not trust him! I beg of you!  
I need you to remember that I love you, and that I have faith in you that you will do what is right. Remember when you're afraid of the darkness, you only need to switch on the light.  
Love, Dad.

Astrid could no longer hold back her tears. She sunk into her father's chair and cried like a child. Her father had given her the business, only for her to make the mistake of partnering with the one man that he had warned her against. At that point, she did not care what happened to the business, or to the entire town. Astrid wiped her tears away with a tissue and tossed it into the bin on the floor. She knew what she needed to do. She needed to leave, to get out of town for a little while.

Astrid raced out of her father's office, all the way down the stairs and made her way to the underground car park. She opened the key lock cupboard and found the key with the blue tag. She picked up her helmet from the hook on the wall and put it on. She walked through the numerous cars until she found what she was looking for. She found her purple Suzuki motor bike. She opened the door to the garage, climbed on her bike and rode right out of garage, down the street and right out of town. Not stopping until she made it to Sterling City.


End file.
